Investor Beat: Dec. 18, 2013

On Wednesday's edition of Investor Beat, host Chris Hill and Motley Fool analysts Jason Moser and Taylor Muckerman take a hard and fast look at the day's most important business stories of the day for Foolish investors.

Fed Chief Ben Bernanke announced today that the Federal Reserve will start to pare back the quantitative easing bond-buying program next month. As expected, the Fed will lower the asset purchases by $10 billion. Contrary to the expectations of some, however, the markets did not plunge on the news as many investors had feared but rather continued to roar bullishly forward. Was all the panic for nothing? Was there ever any panic in the first place? In the lead segment on today's Investor Beat, our analysts take a look at why the market took this news extremely well and what investors can expect from the Fed next year.

Then, they discuss four stocks making moves on the market today. Ford fell after the automaker said profits will be hurt over the next few years due to new-vehicle launches and the recession in Europe. Chipotlehas announced that it will be getting into the pizza business, opening the first location of its Pizzeria Locale in Denver. However, co-CEO Steven Ells has stressed that the company's growth will still be driven by the Chipotle brand. Second-quarter profits for FedExrose 14% and the company raised guidance for the full fiscal year, but the stock was relatively flat on the news. And AMC Entertainment, the largest movie theater chain in America, rose on its first day as a publicly traded company.

And finally, Taylor takes a look at some big growth projections from Kodiak Oil & Gas while Jason highlights what he'll be looking for when Nikereports earnings tomorrow after market close.

More FoolishnessTired of watching your stocks creep up year after year at a glacial pace? Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner, founder of the No. 1 growth stock newsletter in the world, has developed a unique strategy for uncovering truly wealth-changing stock picks. And he wants to share it, along with a few of his favorite growth stock superstars, WITH YOU! It's a special 100% FREE report called "6 Picks for Ultimate Growth." So stop settling for index-hugging gains... and click HERE for instant access to a whole new game plan of stock picks to help power your portfolio.

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.